The Houston Rockets are the greatest threat to dethrone the defending champion Golden State Warriors, with a potential Western Conference finals meeting between these two powerhouses quickly becoming the NBA's most anticipated postseason matchup.

As MVP front-runner James Harden sees it, this is the season his team gets over the hump.

"This is the year. For sure," Harden told ESPN on Tuesday.

A 65-win season — which would be seven wins higher than the previous franchise record (set in 1993-94) — and the No. 1 seed in the West are both still very much in the cards for the 47-13 Rockets, who currently sit half-game ahead of Golden State.

"The front office — (general manager) Daryl Morey and (CEO) Tad Brown — those guys did an unbelievable job," said Harden. "From last year, bringing (Eric Gordon) and (Ryan Anderson) over. Then obviously adding (Chris Paul) and (PJ Tucker) and (Luc Mbah a Moute) and then you get (Gerald Green) and Joe Johnson.

"This is probably the best team I've ever been a part of, from top to bottom. The chemistry that we have, included with the coaching staff — I mean, we're having a lot of fun."

"Yes (they are a threat) because they do it a different way," Curry said from shootaround in Washington on Wednesday morning. "They adopted the power of the three ball and tried to use that as a main weapon. Obviously with James and (Paul) together, honestly we know they're playing well and we're chasing that No. 1 seed and keeping tabs on how they're playing and what not. ... We know they're serious, but so are we."

Curry also said it's not just the Rockets' swagger he's noticed.

"Everybody's got to have that confidence, whether it's rational or not," he said.

Heading into Wednesday night's matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers, the Rockets are riding an NBA-best 13-game winning streak and are 30-1 in games in which Harden, Paul and Clint Capela have played.